Cabinet



C. R. CROSNO July 24, 1934.

CABINET Filed NOV. 27, 1933 V 5 Sheets-Sheet l C'. 7?.C'1 osno g uwm C.R. CROSNO July 24, 1934.

CABINET Filed Nov. 27, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor C. 7? Crosnoflllomey C. R. CROSNO CABINET Filed Nov. 27. 1933 5 Sheets- Sheet 3flllorney C. R. CROSNO July 24, 1934.

CABINET Filed Nov. 27, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 lnqenlor C 7? C'l'osnoflllorney- C. R. CROSNO 5&11 7'24, 1934a CABINET Filed NOV. 27. 1933 5Sheets-Sheet 5 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJ [nvenior flllorney C. R. CrosnoPatented July 24, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in cabinetsand has for its primary object to provide, in a manner as hereinafterset forth, a cabinet embodying a novel construction,

combination and arrangement of parts through the medium of which saidcabinet may be expeditiously converted into a table with a minimum ofeffort.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a cabinet of theaforementioned character embodying a plurality of swingingly mountedshelves which may be swung outwardly and downwardly to the front or rearof the cabinet in a manner to provide a table when desired.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide novelresilient means for maintaining the shelves in any position and forassisting in swinging said shelves to raised position.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a cabinet of the characterset forth which will be comparatively simple in construction,- strong,durable, highly efficient and reliable in use, compact, attractive inappearance and which may be manufactured at low cost.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of theinvention will become ap parent from a study of the followingspecification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein like characters of reference designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a view in front elevation of a cabinet constructed inaccordance with the present invention with the shelves in raisedposition and the doors closed.

Figure 2 is a view in rear elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the cabinet, with the upperportion removed, showing the doors in opened position.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but in rear elevation.

Figure 5 is a view in vertical section through the cabinet, showing theshelves in lowered position in full lines at the front of the cabinet toprovide a table, said shelves being indicated in broken lines in theirtable forming position at the rear of the cabinet.

Figure 6 a horizontal sectional view, taken substantially on the line6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a detail view in perspective of the belt connected rolls.

Figure 8 is a detail view in perspective of the removable shelf which ismounted in the lower portion of the cabinet.

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially on the line9-9 of Figure 6.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary view in vertical section, taken substantiallyon the line l0-10 of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a detail view in perspective of one of the arm lockingdogs.

Figure 12 is a detail view in perspective of the hood which is mountedover the rolls shown in Figure '7.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that theembodiment of the invention which has been illustrated comprises acabinet which is designated generally by the reference numeral 1, saidcabinet being open at its front and rear and comprising side walls 2, atop 3 and a bottom 4. The cabinet 1 further includes upper and lowerpairs of front doors 5 and 6, respectively, and a pair of rear doors 7,all of said doors being hingedly mounted on the side walls 2, as at 8.

Recessed in the side walls 2 of the cabinet are removable bearing blocks9 having inwardly projecting pins 10 mounted therein. Journaled on thepins 10 are rolls 11. Fixed off center on the ends of the rolls 11 arepairs of arms 12 between which pivotally mounted bars 13 extend atspaced points. Shelves 14 are mounted on the bars 13. The uppermostshelf 14 projects beyond its supporting bars 13 and has its endssubstantially flush with the outer faces of the arms 13 in a manner toprovide handles to facilitate swinging the shelves upwardly to raisedposition.

A belt 15 passes back and forth between the rolls l1 and is wrappedtightly therearound for connecting said rolls with each other forrotation in unison, the ends of said belt being anchored to said rolls.The opposed edges of the pairs of swingable arms 12 have formed thereonspaced projections 16 which interfit when said arms are in horizontalposition, as illustrated to advantage in Figure 5 of the drawings. Theshelf supporting bars 13 are journaled on the projections 16, as alsoillustrated to advantage in Figure 5 of the drawings. It will thus beseen that the arms 12 are maintained in parallelism at all times and itwill further be seen that the shelves 14 are in a horizontal position atall times.

Coil springs 1'7 are connected, as at 18, to the rolls 11 for balancingthe shelves 14 and for yieldingly urging said shelves toward raisedposition. 105 The lower ends of the springs 17 are connected to thebottom 4 of the cabinet 1 by means ineluding turn buckles 19 through themedium of which the tension of said springs may be adjusted as desired.As will be seen from Figure 5, the 11 attaching points 18 of the springsto the rollers are located in a plane substantially the same as thehorizontal diameter of each roller, when the parts are in a positionforming the table. This manner of attaching the springs to the rollersprovides a graduated pull of the springs as the arms and shelves arelowered and thus the pull of the springs more nearly balances thechanging torque of the swinging assembly as it is lowered than would bethe case if the springs were attached elsewhere. The purpose of the belt15 is two-fold; first, the belt distributes the unequal pull of thesprings practically equal to the two sets of arms and second, throughoutthe complete arc of 180 which the mechanism is capable of swinging, thetwo sets of arms are maintained parallel to each other by the action ofthe belt, and buckling at the extreme positions of the swing isprevented. The arms 12 are positively locked in horizontal position bydogs 20 which are loosely mounted in recesses 21 provided therefor inthe side walls 2 of the cabinet 1, the free ends of said dogs beingengageable on the uppermost arms 12, as best seen in Figure 9 of thedrawings. When in inoperative position, the locking dogs 20 are engagedbehind the end portions of metallic strips 22 which are mounted on theinner sides of the walls 2 and which project over the recesses 21.

Extending between the side walls 2 of the cabinet 1, adjacent the blocks9, are bars 23 and 24 upon which the lowermost arms 12 rest when saidarms are swung to horizontal position at the front or rear of thecabinet. Brackets 25 are provided on the bars 23 and 24 for supporting aremovable substantially inverted U-shaped casing or plate 26 whichcovers the rolls 11 and the belt 15.

Extending between the bottom 4 of the cabinet and the rear bar 24 is afixed panel 27. The reference numeral 28 designates a removable shelfwhich is slidably supported in the lower portion of the cabinet 1between uprights 29 having facing strips 30 on their forward verticaledges. The elements 29 and 30 conceal the springs 17 but permit accessto be readily had to said springs for adjusting the same. Suitablelatches 31 are provided on the bars 23 and 24 for the pairs of doors 5,6 and '7.

Briefly, the operation of the device is as follows:-

The shelves 14 are normally maintainer in raised position within thecabinet 1 by the springs 17. When a table is desired, the front or reardoors 5 or '7 are opened and the uppermost shelf 14 is gripped andpulled outwardly and downwardly until the arms 12 are in a horizontalposition. The spacing and width of the shelves 14 are such that thelongitudinal edges of said shelves will be substantially in abuttingengagement with each other when the arms 12 are in horizontal positionfor providing a substantially unbroken surface. If desirable ornecessary any suitable latch means may be provided for looking the pairsof arms 12 in engagement with each other in horizontal position. Whenthe table is no longer desired the shelves are swung upwardly to raisedposition within the cabinet 1 by engaging the projecting end portions ofthe uppermost shelf as handles and exerting an upward and inward pullthereon.

When the arms 12 are in horizontal position, the dogs'20 at the front orrear of the cabinet, depending upon which way said arms extend from thecabinet, are disengaged from behind the metallic strips 22 and engagedon the uppermost of the arms 12, as hereinbefore explained, forpositively locking the shelves in lowered or table forming position. Ofcourse, when the shelves are to be swung upwardly the dogs 20 arereturned to inoperative position within the recesses 21 and behind themetallic strips 22, as will be understood. If desired, the device may bemounted in an opening in a wall between two rooms, thereby providing acabinet and a table for both rooms.

It is believed that the many advantages of a cabinet constructed inaccordance with the present invention will be readily understood, andalthough a preferred embodiment of the invention is as illustrated anddescribed, it is to be understood that changes in the details ofconstruction and in the combination and arrangement of parts may beresorted to which will fall within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a cabinet open at itsfront and rear, a pair of rolls journaled in the cabinet, a beltoperatively connecting the rolls together for rotation in unison, armsfixed on the rolls, horizontal shelves pivotally mounted between thearms and springs connected with the rolls and tending to move the rollsin a direction to raise the arms to a vertical position.

2. A device of the character described comprising a cabinet open at itsfront and rear, a pair of rolls journaled in the cabinet, a beltoperatively connecting the rolls together for rotation in unison, armsfixed on the rolls for movement therewith, cross members pivotallyconnected, at their end portions, to the arms for maintaining said armsin parallelism with each other, shelves mounted on the cross members, a.projection on each roll, and a spring having one end connected to saidprojection and its other end to a bottom part of the cabinet.

3. A device of the character described comprising a cabinet open at itsfront and rear, doors mounted on the front and rear of the cabinet, apair of rolls journaled horizontally in the cabinet, a belt operativelyconnecting the rolls together for rotation in unison, an arm fixed toeach end of each roll, each arm of one roll having an edge contacted byan edge of the adjacent arm of the other roll and said edges havingspaced recesses therein forming projections between them, theprojections of one arm fitting in the recesses of the adjacent arm,cross members, each pivoted to one projection of one arm and to theadjacent projection of the adjacent arm, horizontal shelves connected tosaid cross members, a lateral projection on each roll and arrangedhorizontally when the arms are in horizontal position, and a springhaving one end connected to each projection and its other end to abottom part of the cabinet, and latch means for holding said arms in ahorizontal position.

CHARLES R. CROSNO.

